Zondo Commission into state capture to start hearings today

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture officially begins on Monday.

For the first time, former president Jacob Zuma at some point is expected to give proper answers about his involvement in state capture.

The commission is tasked with unravelling the full extent of corruption at state organs and allegations that Zuma used his position to secure deals for the Guptas and his son Duduzane, in return for money.

Speaking to Bongani Bingwa, Advocate Paul Hoffman says there is indeed a great deal of information in the public domain.

“In October 2016, Thuli Madonsela went with a tape recorder to visit Jacob Zuma and Micheal Hulley and asked him the obvious questions about the capture of the state.”
— Paul Hoffman, Advocate

“And he ducked and dived and refused to answer, so a starting point for the fact-finding task of the Zondo commission is to ask those questions again and to insist on a proper answer.”
— Paul Hoffman, Advocate

Hoffman says if we are going to avoid a repetition, there needs to be an understanding of how the circumstances within government were such that state capture happened.

“If there had been an adequate anti-corruption missionary of state, which the Hawks are not, then it could have been nipped in the bud.”
— Paul Hoffman, Advocate

An advocate of the High Court of South Africa and specialist in criminal law Professor James Grant also weighed in on the conversation and said he is worried that the commission is not the silver bullet that everyone is expecting.

“It primarily because of the regulations which are now in their second edition and I think we are setting us up for a constitutional challenge which probably only be heard in about maybe six to ten years time.”

— Professor James Grant, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and Specialist in Criminal Law 20 August 2018.